Here are some free personal finance courses and resources. Scroll to the bottom of this post for some free, downloadable readers about money.

High School Financial Planning Program: Designed by the National Endowment for Financial Education, these materials for middle and high school age, come in six units that cover Money Management, Borrowing, Earning Power, Investing, Financial Services, and Insurance. Register at the site and you can download the booklets or order print copies.

Next Gen Personal Finance: Offers a free set of online lessons covering personal finance basics. The curriculum, published by the non-profit Center for Financial Capability, is presented in a series of units that include text and video resources, and activities.

Practical Money Skills: Features teachers guides and activities on money management for grades K - 12. Lessons for the earliest learners introduce money (what it is and how to earn it), then moves on to such topics as savings, loans, credit, budgeting and investing. There are 22 lessons for high school.

CompareCards.com: This credit card comparison site has free lessons for middle school and high school students on the basics of credit, credit cards and investing.

Banzai: This site teaches key concepts in personal finance by presenting students with a number of real life scenarios. Tasks to be completed include paying rent, understanding your paycheck (taxes withheld, direct deposit, gross and net income), budgeting for gas, groceries and other expenses.

Money Wise Teen, a series of financial literacy video lessons created by the California Council on Economic Education. Designed for middle- and high-school students, the animated vignettes cover basic economics topics such as scarcity, budgeting, credit, compound interest, and paying for college. The 10 video lessons are available on the Money Wise Teen YouTube channel; there's also an accompanying 84-page PDF Teachers Guide.

Financial Football: Players gain yards and score touchdowns by correctly answering financial questions. There are three age levels to choose from: Rookie (ages 11–14), Pro (ages 14–18) or Hall of Fame (ages 18+). For each age group, there are downloadable lesson guides with discussion questions, activities, quizzes and other exercises. Combined with the game, this seems like something that might work well in a group setting or homeschool co-op.

Two subjects I've always been fascinated by are twin studies, and space exploration -- an unlikely pairing which, in the mission of Scott Kelley, has enabled scientists to glean data, as never before, on the effects of spaceflight on the body.

You can watch all the episodes of Time'sdocumentary, "A Year In Space," here; and find learning activities based on the series here and here. Visit the following sites for additional free resources about astronauts and space:

All About Spacesuits: This interactive resource, created by NASA, explains how a spacesuit functions as a personal, mini-spacecraft that enables an astronaut to live and work in the harsh space environment. Learn about the suits worn for the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, shuttle, and spacewalk missions.

Space Exploration Mini-Unit: Seven lessons, with articles and videos, beginning with how to become an astronaut, and culminating in the future of space exploration.

Train Like an Astronaut: Combine learning about the requirements of space exploration with physical fitness. This site offers videos and free activity guides that explain how exercise and proper nutrition help astronauts maintain and improve important aspects of fitness such as physical strength, endurance, speed, flexibility, balance and coordination.

Astronaut Videos: See how astronauts eat, sleep, brush their teeth and do other tasks aboard the International Space Station.